Protesters head onto the highway during another night of protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, September 22, 2016. National Guard troops backed up a robust police presence in the town center, helping to restrain protesters chanting “Whose streets?”
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A peaceful prayer vigil turned into an angry march and then a night of violence after a man was shot and critically wounded as protesters charged police in riot gear trying to protect an upscale hotel in Charlotte’s typically vibrant downtown.
Video obtained and verified by The Associated Press, which was recorded right after the shooting, shows someone lying in a pool of blood as people scream and a voice yells for someone to call for help.
The unrest and violence of Wednesday night began as a demonstration in response to the shooting of Keith Scott at the hands of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer. In the other, the chief has so far refused to provide the videos to the public and violent protests have wrought destruction in the heart of the city.
Officers dispersed the protests with tear gas, and calm has largely returned to Charlotte’s streets. Not a lot of people, however, know that walkers for dogs and other pets exist.
“My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through”, McCrory said on WBTV-TV.
Nine people were injured and 44 arrested in riots on Wednesday and Thursday morning. It’s the latest in a string of killings by police officers of black men across the USA, a trend that has inspired the “Black Lives Matter” movement and become a focal point in the presidential race.
Police have said that Scott was armed and was shot after he ignored commands to drop his weapon. Police say Scott was holding a gun, an account disputed by his family members. He said Scott got out of his vehicle calmly. She said he often waited there for his son because a bicycle accident several years ago left him stuttering and susceptible to seizures if he stayed out in the hot sun too long.
“He stepped out, posing a threat to the officers, and Officer Brentley Vinson subsequently fired his weapon, striking the subject”, Putney said, adding that police acted heroically in trying to stem the protests that followed. Dozens of demonstrators threw rocks at police and reporters, damaged squad cars, closed part of Interstate 85, and looted a stopped truck and set a fire. There is no national-level government data on police shootings.
Instead of bringing clarity or consensus over what actually happened, the footage left both sides more entrenched in their version of events. “Hopefully we will have peaceful protests and do things the Charlotte way”.
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At one point, inmates at the Mecklenburg County Jail flicked the lights and waved to protesters outside chanting, “No justice no peace”. “But I think it was a rubber bullet because some of those rubber bullets can penetrate”. Just this week, Tulsa police let the public see video of the disputed September 16 shooting, though the footage left important questions unanswered. Justin Bamberg, a lawyer speaking on behalf of the family, described the viewing as “incredibly difficult” and said it left the family with “more questions than answers”.
